WWW Search Strategies

1
WWW Search Strategies

• CECS 4100
• University of North Texas
• Developed by Rhonda Christensen

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Finding the Needle in the Haystack(searching the
Internet)

• Three types of search tools
• Internet directories
• Search engines
• Meta-search engines

3
Internet directories

• Lists of web sites reviewed by humans
• Often are subject specific some are general
• Links are rarely obsolete
• Results are stable

4
Search Engines

• An index built by a computer program that goes
  out and collects data little quality control
• More inclusive than a directory
• Sometimes many links are obsolete
• Keyword searchable
• Often included to search within sites

5
Meta-search Engines

• Goes out and searches a number of popular search
  engines and brings hits back to you
• Collects the top hits from each of its search
  engines
• Caution - it may skim and not produce enough
  depth but is a good place to start

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Search Strategies

• Simple search
• Logical expressions using Boolean Operators
• AND, OR, NOT
• Becoming familiar with the type of returns on
  different search engines
• Start broad and narrow search with special
  characters such as and -

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Some Popular Search Engines

• Google (google.com)
• Other Google Search Tools
• All the Web (www.alltheweb.com)
• AltaVista (www.altavista.com)
• Northern Lights (www.northernlight.com)
• Yahoo (www.yahoo.com)
• GoTo (www.goto.com)
• Infoseek is now Go.com (www.go.com)
• Lycos (hotbot.lycos.com)
• Excite (www.excite.com)
• HotBot (www.hotbot.com)

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Multiple Types of Searches

• Web
• Images
• MP3/Audio
• Video
• News
• Book Search
• Blog Search
• Scholarly Papers

9
Kid Friendly Search Engines

• Yahooligans
• www.yahooligans.com
• Ask Jeeves for Kids
• www.ajkids.com
• CyberSleuth
• http//cybersleuth-kids.com
• Family Friendly Search
• http//familyfriendlysearch.com/
• Kidss Click
• http//sunsite.berkeley.edu/KidsClick!/

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Meta Search Engines

• Mamma Metasearch
• www.mamma.com
• DogPile
• www.dogpile.com
• Metacrawler
• www.metacrawler.com
• KartOO
• www.kartoo.com
• Vivisimo
• Vivisimo.com

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Update of Latest Search Engines

• Kathy Schrocks Search Engine Guide
• http//school.discovery.com/schrockguide/yp/iypsrc
  h.html
• Search Engine Watch
• www.searchenginewatch.com

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Scavenger Hunts

• Scavenger Hunts allow the teaching of academic
  concepts and the teaching of navigational skills
  to students
• Two Types of Scavenger Hunts
• Series of questions for the students to use a
  search engine to locate information
• Series of questions in which students are given
  hyperlinks to the URL that will answer the
  question

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Sample Scavenger Hunts

• Type 1 - Scavenger Hunt Select a Decade
• Type 2 - Astronauts
• Texas Heritage Scavenger Hunt